Damages inflicted on all buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk regions make at least eight billion hryvnas (around $700 million)

Smoke rises after an airstrike on Luhansk

KIEV, July 16. /ITAR-TASS/. Ukraine hopes to restore the infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions in southeast Ukraine from state budget, thanks to private investors and international aid, parliament-appointed Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said during his visit to the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the country’s Cabinet will present draft amendments in the state budget for this year envisaging funding of restoration works in the east of the country, he said. Meanwhile, Yatsenyuk believes that in current conditions “everybody should make investments, everybody should donate to restore networks, infrastructure and bring the life in Donbass (the main Ukrainian coalmining region) back on normal track.”

Damages inflicted on all buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk regions make at least eight billion hryvnas (around $700 million). “These are preliminary estimates for Donetsk and Luhansk. But as the military conflict continues, I believe that this sum will be enough for a couple of months in the best case,” the prime minister said.

Investors from the European Union plan to hold a donor conference in September, he added. “We expect aid from our Western partners to restore Donbass, its infrastructure and provide local residents with jobs,” Yatsenyuk said. The prime minister noted that the EU mission would visit Ukraine soon to estimate the level of destruction, “after that we will agree jointly on required amount of funding and technical aid.